Betrayal
by SchroedingersKneazle
Summary: "You don't understand! He would've killed me!" - "Then you should have died!" But Peter Pettigrew is no hero who would die for his friends. Given the choice to save James' or his own life, he chose the latter.


Oh no, it had gone wrong, it had all gone wrong. All Peter wanted was getting out of this alive. He desperately tried to think of a way to escape, but there was none. He was still in his Animagus form, dangling from his hind leg which Bellatrix Lestrange held in a painfully tight grip.

How had he got stuck in this situation? He had been hiding as usual in the small hole and listened to the Death Eater meeting, hoping to get some valuable information for the Order. He was no great fighter, like James or Sirius or Alastor, but no one was as good as him when it came to sneaking around and gathering information.

But this time, he had gone too far, had been too brave. The Death Eaters had already left Lestrange Manor, and Peter had hoped to be able to steal some documents they had carelessly left behind, believing no one could intrude into their Headquarters.

If he had succeeded, James and Sirius would finally have looked up to him for once. But he had failed, and now he was trapped. The Lestranges' horrible cat had spotted him, and trying to escape, he had run straight into Bellatrix.

"You filthy… sneaking… little… rat!" She snarled at him. "Will you transform already, or shall I feed you to Mephisto?

She lowered her arm so that the cat could almost snap at Peter's paws. He couldn't help but squeak in fear, trying to wiggle out of Lestrange's hand.

The cat jumped at him and managed to scratch him. Wormtail squeaked in pain and fear.

"Now, will you transform or do you want to be eaten?" she asked.

Wormtail had no choice. He began to transform, and Bellatrix let him down. The moment he became a man again, she cast a non-verbal spell and ropes emerged from her wand, binding him against a chair.

"Peter Pettigrew!" she exclaimed, apparently surprised. "You were the last one I'd expect sneaking into my house. You're braver and more foolish than I thought. Your animagus form is very fitting for a wizard as feeble as you. But I admit it has its uses."

"Now, can you give me any reason I shouldn't just kill you?" Bellatrix asked him.

Peter panicked. There was no way out. And Bellatrix came only narrowly second to the Dark Lord when it came to cruelty.

"Speak!" she ordered. When Peter remained silent, she pointed his wand again at him. "Crucio!"

He writhed on his chair, the ropes cutting into his flesh. It was over as suddenly as it had started.

"What information can you give to us?" Bellatrix asked. "And it better be useful to my master if you want to live."

"If you think I'd betray my friends just like that, you're wrong!" Peter said. "You're going to kill me anyway, so why should I tell you anything?"

"Crucio!" She yelled again. "Speak you little rat!"

Again, Peter remained silent.

"Alright, rat." Bellatrix said. "If you won't talk to me, I'll have to call the Dark Lord. He has his methods to get information even from fools like you."

She pulled up her sleeve and touched the Dark Mark on her forearm.

And then he appeared. The face of his nightmares was directly staring at him. Pale and bald, with red eyes piercing him.

"Why have you called me, Bellatrix? And so early after our meeting?" He asked.

"My Lord, I have successfully captured a spy from the Order of the Phoenix!" Bellatrix answered.

"So that is this vermin doing in your dining room." The Dark Lord taunted.

Peter's mind was raging. He needed something he could offer the Dark Lord, something that would be of enough use to keep him alive.

The Dark Lord turned towards him.

"You are, if my memory serves me right, Peter Pettigrew." He spoke. "The faithful sidekick of James Potter and Sirius Black, who has always been overshadowed by them."

Peter nodded, his fear rendering him unable to speak. The Dark Lord, however, went on in his talk.

"You see where your great friends have gotten you? Staying behind like cowards, relying on you to creep into the middle of my faithful Death Eaters? Have they ever given you anything in return for your service?"

Peter remained silent. He wanted to tell the Dark Lord that he was lying, but he didn't have the courage. And besides, didn't he have a point? Had the others ever seen him as an equal? No, he had always been the one to look up to them.

Voldemort raised his wand, pointing at Peter. He thought it was over, but then he heard that he wasn't speaking the Killing Curse.

"Legilimens!" The Dark Lord spoke. Peter had no chance to defend from Voldemort breaking into his mind. Memories rushed past him. He was eleven again, arguing with the Sorting Hat to put him in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but the Dark Lord seemed to laugh as he witnessed this memory.

Then, he was thirteen, and he alone had been caught by caretaker Apollyon Pringle, while James, Sirius and Remus had escaped. A terrible detention had followed, cleaning grimy cauldrons without magic. And while he was scrubbing off the crusted remains of undrinkable potions, the others were sitting comfortably in the Gryffindor common room.

He was fifteen, and Sirius was mocking him about failing the question about Werewolves in their O.W.L. exam. Eighteen, and he was about to leave Hogwarts, full of fear of what lay ahead of him.

The following memories were all centred around James and Lily, but it seemed the Dark Lord couldn't find what he was looking for. Finally, he left Peter's mind.

"There's some information protected by more than just your feeble mind. Very clever, Dumbledore, very clever." The Dark Lord was now talking more to himself than to Peter or Bellatrix.

"I can't torture that information out of him, I can't access it by Legilimency, nor can I take it forcibly from him in any way." Voldemort mumbled to himself.

Peter realized what the Dark Lord was talking about. The Potters. The idea seemed too terrible, but yet, if it was his only way out…

Voldemort turned once again towards him.

"I have seen inside your mind, Peter Pettigrew. You are, above everything else, scared. You have picked the losing side and you know it. Your so-called friends can no longer protect you. Dumbledore can no longer protect you, even if he ever considered you worthy of his protection.

But Lord Voldemort has mercy. I can offer you a second chance. I can give you the protection that Dumbledore can't. I will even let you join the ranks of my faithful Death Eaters if you prove worthy. All I ask from you is that bit of information that Dumbledore so desperately wants to conceal from me."

"The… the Potters." Peter said.

"What is it you can tell me about them?" Voldemort asked.

"They made me secret keeper." Peter explained.

"He lies!" Bellatrix said. "I'm well informed that my blood-traitor of a cousin is their secret keeper. That vermin is telling lies to sneak out."

"I'm not lying!" Peter shrieked. "James wanted everyone to believe Sirius is secret-keeper. Even Dumbledore doesn't know it's me."

"He speaks the truth." Voldemort said. "He has so little skill in protecting his mind, I'd know immediately if he was lying."

"So it wasn't Dumbledore but James Potter who achieved this remarkable magic. Too bad for him he always puts his trust into the wrong people." Voldemort continued. "Have your reward, traitorous rat."

He pointed his wand at Peter's wrist. Black flames shot out of its tip, and a snake protruding from a skull appeared on Peter's forearm, etched into his skin as the mark of his betrayal.

This story was written for the **Embrace the Majors Competition -** \- **Statics:** the physics of things that don't move - _write about_ : a character who is making a difficult decision


End file.
